After All, All is Fair
by RunAwayWithMeInTheNight
Summary: Alfred had never been in love until the day he met Nataliya. Little did he know his friend and roommate Toris had long harbored feelings for the girl. The two of them are now forced to put friendship on the line for a girl who isn't really interested .
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Well this is another de-anon from the kink meme.

Alfred and Toris are roommates and friends in college. Despite the fact that Alfred is the confident big man on campus, and Toris is well not, the two still get along fairly well. So what happens when they both attempt to woo the Ice Queen Nataliya, that sort of wants nothing to do with either one of them at all.

*Michelle is Seychelles

** Vaganova Method – a way of teaching and doing ballet that that's the classical French style and combines it with the athleticism of the Italian style.

Despite the fact that Alfred F. Bonnefoy-Kirkland had been raised by an overly romantic Frenchman, had over the course of his measly nineteen years on earth, never really had been in love. He was perfectly willing to admit that too (even if it would make his Papa, who was not only _overly_ romantic but also _overly_ dramatic, fake a faint). But there was something the instant that he saw that blonde beauty through the window of the corner coffee shop near his college's campus that made all of that change. In that instant something deep inside of him stirred; and Alfred F. Bonnefoy-Kirkland knew that love was most certainly real.

Without hesitation he back tracked his way the three steps he had taken past the door to the busy little café, ignored the greeting of the girl working register, and made his way to the corner table where the woman of his dreams sat alone. Alfred wasn't sure what exactly he should stay as he approached her; he was a naturally charming guy. Girls tended to love him—with his good looks, Hollywood smile, athletic ability, and other various things he couldn't quite put his finger on blended together to make him into the sort of guy that had never been pepper sprayed or threatened to be pepper sprayed. He was rarely at a loss for words all it took for most girls his age was a stupid pick up line to break the ice, then he was in. But with this beauty that sort of thing wasn't going to work.

This was it he was right in front of her table now so he had to say something good. "Hey there." A simple greeting would have to do for now, he leaned over the table resting his hand on the wooden surface and flashed a grin in her direction expecting her to look up. But there was no reaction from her what-so-ever. She just sat there in silence not at all looking up from what looked like a math assignment; a small bowl of soup and some bread sitting next to her. Maybe she didn't hear him?

Alfred cleared his throat, then repeated his oh so eloquent greeting once more, "Hey there."

This time there was a reaction, she looked up from her work at him. Her long blonde hair neatly tied back with a ribbon (a part of him wanted to ask how it was she got her hair to be held back by the thin piece of cloth, his younger sister Michelle* had always said ribbon alone was impossible to hold hair back with) slipped over the back of her shoulders and she fixed him with a cold stare. She however remained silent.

"I couldn't help but notice you sitting here all alone and thought to myself, 'Al', that's my name, 'you're dad raised you to be a gentleman, you should go on over there and say hello to that young woman and offer her your company?'" her icy blue eyes remained on him completely unimpressed by his words, look, smile, or gesture of gentlemanly companionship. "So here I am now, is this seat taken?"

In one movement she lifted a leg and placed it in the chair across from her, than the other looked back up at him and said in an even tone, "Yes."

Oh so she was playing hard to get that was no problem from him, Alfred totally had this situation under control. "Oh, well I guess that's a little too bad. How about I give you my number that way in the future if you've got a vacant seat then I could keep you company?" she said nothing and was back to staring him right in the eye, "the only catch though is that you will have to give me your name."

At this moment she took her eyes away from his and looked over his shoulder. That was when for the first time a little bit of fear struck him. Was she dating some guy, a big burly one, like something out of one of those terrible movies he couldn't help but watch; the sort of guy who was probably on steroids, a total over protective douche bag that was ready to beat his ass for even daring to look at his girlfriend. That was okay by Al though, he was a pretty good fighter if he had to say so himself; after all he was agile, worked out, grew up with a twin brother and like with all siblings they got into rowdy rough housing often enough. Though the thought of him getting his nose broken sounded absolutely awful to him; he had a good straight nose and would rather not have it broken by some jerk.

He glanced over his shoulder just as the beautiful girl stood up from her seat gathered up her things and marched away rather quickly hurrying over to some large guy with a big nose and wrapping her arm into his. She looked back at Alfred for a brief moment as she loudly said, "I'm so glad to see you Ivan!" leading him away out of the little café.

Alfred stood there quietly and confused trying to process what exactly had happened.

It was a little afternoon, and like on most days around this time Nataliya was sitting in the little restaurant near the campus of the school she attended. They served the sort of soups that had enough lean protein to keep her muscles working and her body going for the rest of the day, while still being light enough that she could still go to her dance practice and not feel weighed down by too big of a meal. She would sit alone and eat, while working a bit on assignments for classes she was less passionate about.

Normally no one would bother her. She could have her bit of alone time looking over the things she needed to while simultaneously refueling her body for the rest of her day ahead. Though the moment that that obnoxious blond boy (she wouldn't even give him the dignity of being referred to as a "man") popped up next to her table. Well there went her hopes and dreams of being able to have a quiet peaceful meal alone. She ignored him.

Nataliya was an attractive young woman. This was a fact that she was fully aware of, and had fully been aware of now since she was quite young. In elementary school the quicker to mature of the boys would leave her notes or offer her little gifts of candies, or other things they heard that girls liked. Once she had moved on to middle school and high school the trend of boys finding her attractive and attempting to woo her into being their girlfriends continued. It was all really rather annoying, when all she wanted really was to be left alone by these people. However it wasn't like she had never been in a relationship before.

Nataliya deployed her usual tactic for dealing with people she was not interested in who found her attractive, and that was naturally o ignore whoever it was. She remained silent and didn't look up for the math problems before her. This however didn't seem to work seeing how he remained next to her and attempted to start a conversation with her a second time. It appeared he was unable to take her first hint. Time for tactical maneuver number two, she fixed him with a glare that had made better men cry. Her death glare that she might as well have patented; it had been taught to her by her father when she was young he was a military man with not only Nataliya as a beautiful daughter, but also her older sister Katya that had been cursed with a most bountiful bosom (that had attracted her nothing but mostly the negative lustful advances of boys and men). Thinking ahead in case his youngest child would have such a gift he taught her this death glare so that she would be able to scare anyone that came across her.

Tactical maneuver number two didn't seem to work either. Now he was babbling on about being a gentleman. It appeared as if he was unable to take a hint. It was time for desperate measures. No one before this boy had been able to withstand the death glare. She placed her feet in the chair opposite of her even though doing such a thing in a public place was rude. Still he remained and was offering her his number. It looked as if she needed a retreat of some sort.

It was at that moment that her eyes feel on her older brother. Oh beautiful beloved Ivan, he was the perfect escape route. Before he could even order his food, Nataliya gathered her things up, tossing her math work into her blue duffle bag, throwing that over her shoulder and quickly leading her brother out of the café without even getting a chance to finish her food. Which was sad, she had been looking forward to that seafood bisque being their soup of the day for weeks now.

"What the hell was that?" He asked her the moment they were outside trying to escape her grasp.

"Wait a moment. Just hold on to me a bit longer."

"Explain yourself." Ivan fixed her with a look, "Nataliya what is going on?"

"That idiot was trying to hit on me." She said flatly, "Brother I tried all of my tricks and he just wouldn't get it."

"Did you give him father's death glare?" he sounded surprised, she gave him a brief nod, "And nothing?" she nodded again, "He must be some kind of super human."

"Or a total idiot, I am going to go ahead and bet total idiot."

"Nataliya—"

"What? Don't tell me that I need to let loose again Ivan! I swear you always take these boy's sides over mine." She let go of her brother's arm and adjusted her bag on her shoulder as the two of them made their way to the dance studio in the athletic department's building. "You always make it out to be that I am the bad guy in these situations, as my older brother isn't it your job to beat up guys who are attracted to me? Or at the very least intimidate them into a healthy fear?"

"This isn't some sort of sitcom. Plus I know too well that you can take care of yourself; and you kind of do a good enough job of scaring men that I'm interested in off." He sounded a big defeated with that last bit.

"None of them are good enough for you brother. I am doing you a favor."

"You're terrifying them all? And giving yourself the reputation of being a right bitch. Also don't go grabbing me in public like that you'll give people the wrong ideas."

"Are you ashamed of being seen in public with me?" Nataliya's voice was starting to sound rather on the annoyed side.

"Of course not," his words were rushed and nervous fearing bringing out his sister's temper, she may have been slight in figure, and nearly a foot shorter than him as far as height went but she had a temper in her that could make seasoned criminals weep, plus toss in her years of training in the Vaganova** Method and she had incredible strength that could come out in the most beautiful and elegant yet still completely violent ways, "I just don't want people to get the wrong ideas."

"How so?"

"That the two of us are romantically involved. Holding hands is the sort of thing mostly reserved for couples, not siblings."

"Oh who cares—"

"I do. I have a hard enough time finding people without having to worry about them thinking that I am the sort of depraved freak that fucks his sister. Not to mention the fact that back when I was still dancing we were romantic opposites."

Nataliya made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat, "It's neither one of our faults that the people at this school don't practice nearly enough? Please don't tell me that that's why you quit?"

Her brother laughed and rested his hand on his stomach, "Now we both know, that that wasn't the reason why."

"If you would have put me in charge of your eating habits then—"

"Or maybe my passion isn't ballet Natasha? I'd rather just keep focusing on physics, and the time it takes to study dance was eating into the time I needed in working on my actual major? We both know the life of a dancer isn't easy."

"Of course I know that. It's just you could be so beautiful sometimes, and I love spending time with you Ivan."

"Saying things like that will give people the wrong idea about our relationship." The two of them laughed, "Well I still need to go ahead and eat." The stopped outside of the building, "I think your safe from that idiot boy bothering you know right?"

Nataliya nodded, "I'll talk to you later then."

"Right see you then."

Toris entered the dorm room that he shared with his roommate Alfred a little after seven surprised to see the other one laying there on his bed. "What's up?" he asked shutting the door behind himself and making his way over to his desk.

The normally exuberant blonde looked over at him and sighed with a most uncharacteristically sad look in his blue eyes. Alfred sat up adjusting his glasses and fixed Toris with the most serious look the other had ever seen on him. "I think I'm in love man."

That was defiantly weird, though normally when Alfred was dating some girl he was all smiles—which really was his typical behavior. Just more blinding from the chemical rush of being in a sexual relationship with someone, "So why are you being such a Debbie Downer?" Toris inwardly cringed at that phrase he really was spending too much time around Feiks (that meant it was only a matter of time before he would start up with the valley girl speech at that point there was certainly no turning back).

"She's so beautiful," Alfred now had a faraway look in his eyes as if he were an old man reminiscing about a lost beauty from his youth, not some girl he had just met today, "Really man I think that she's the one?"

"And you are depressed why?" he gave an awkward laugh, "If she's this complete and utter picture of perfection why exactly are you being so depressed about being in love with her?"

"She has a boyfriend already?"

"Oh well that's too bad." Toris said turning away from his friend and rolling his eyes as he went to unpacking his things. There was nothing that could be done about that. Alfred would probably be over all of this by tomorrow, though over the course of the almost year and a half that Toris had known the other he hadn't quite been like this.

"I know right?" he groaned laying back on the bed and staring up at the white ceiling, "She was just so gorgeous man, I'm telling you Toris. Long blonde hair, and not like that typical boring blonde every chick dyes it. It's super blonde like that smoking hot babe from No Doubt. Her eyes were this real pretty blue, great body too. She's not real curvy though, more on the slide though with small perky breasts—"

Toris straightened his back up listening to Alfred's description, sure this girl he was talking about could really be anyone but it sounded dangerously close too—

"And even though she wasn't really smiling or looked too happy to see me, I know she would have a killer smile if I got to ever see it—"

"Al…" Toris said fixing his roommate with a real serious look, "What was this girl's name?" if he said Nataliya Braginsky, he wasn't sure what he would say or do. He had been in love with her for years now, even if she was a year younger than him, hated his guts, and had a bully for an older brother. Ever since he'd first met her back when she was still in kindergarten he had strong feelings for her. That made her his first crush and really his only crush, like ever. And when he had first seen her once they had both moved on to higher education, the fire he had felt for her had been rekindled.

Toris had dedicated so much time and energy into trying to win her affections somehow. He'd attempted to speak to her but once she fixed him with that glare of hers that had scared him when they were younger; he'd admit defeat (temporarily). When she would dance in their school's productions he would be there for every show and give her flowers, even though his would just be lost and ignored in the sea of roses his fellow admirers gifted her with

"She didn't tell me, before she ran off with that boyfriend of hers. With his big nose, fuck he was kind of fat too. How'd a guy like that get with a girl like her?"

Part of Toris wanted to scold his roommate for being shallow. There were plenty of beautiful women with husbands that were far from being some sort of Adonis. After all women were more attracted to personalities then physical perfection—but that was not what the topic at hand was. "Al, I don't think that was her boyfriend."

"Really?" Suddenly Alfred's normal overly excited puppy-like personality was back, "What makes you say that?"

"I'm pretty sure that was Nataliya Braginsky. She's one of the girls in the dance department."

"Dude there _are_ chicks like that in the dance department? I'm starting to see why you go to all those ballet productions and junk now. Sorry for making fun of you for going. Now I'm regretting not knowing sooner. Wait how would you know that wasn't her boyfriend then?"

"How tall was this big nosed guy?" Toris asked pulling his shoulder length brown hair up in a low ponytail. "Would you say about six feet?"

"Yeah." Alfred nodded his head vigorously to illustrate his point.

"And he was overweight? Like a bit chubby around the middle?"

"Yeah totally."

"That was her older brother, Ivan. We went to school together, like kindergarten until now."

"Wait Ivan Braginsky, right? As in that dick that used to beat you up and shit?"

I was Toris's turn to nod, "Yeah. They have an older sister too. She's really nice and used to scold Ivan all the time when he would be mean to like everybody when we were younger. She's also got," he hesitated for a moment before deciding, why not mention her most distinguishing physical attributes, "boobs."

"Damn." Alfred said with a spacy look in his eyes, "So do you think that I've got a chance with Nataliya man?"

"I suppose so—"

"Sweet I'm going for it now man."

And with those words Toris mentally declared war on Alfred for the winning of Nataliya's heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Toris brushed his teeth for the third time that day. It was nearly six and there were only thirty minutes before the start of one of the dance department's weekly show; and this week the beautiful object of his affections was the lead. He had to be there, now that "Mr. Charisma" Alfred F. Jones was now fighting for her heart too.

He ran his hands through his shoulder length brown hair before adjusting his clothes and making sure that he was presentable to the woman of his dreams. With one last glance and a dash of cologne he headed out of the bathroom and into the main part of his dorm where Mr. Charisma himself was sitting at the foot of his bed playing on his game boy.

"Where are you headed?" Alfred asked without even looking up from his game.

Toris hesitated for a moment trying to decide if he should lie or not. "This week the dance department is putting on _Giselle_."

"Oh… will she be there?" he lowered his video game looking right at his roommate's face.

Again a hesitation, if he were to tell the truth then he knew Alfred would want to go to; which meant that that was more competition. Toris' loyalty and dedication to attended every performance that Nataliya was dancing principal in was the one leg up he had on his roommate. The other was all masculine, with muscles, and classic movie star good looks… and well Toris was not. The majority of women didn't go for the quiet guy, prone to stomach ulcers, with the "he so was a drama kid in high school" vibe (to make that worse he didn't even do drama in high school—even if Feliks constantly tried to convince him into doing it).

He decided to go with the truth, "Yeah," he nodded, "She's Giselle."

"Who's that?"

"If the ballet is called _Giselle_ then the character named 'Giselle' is probably the leading role."

"Oh, right. Let me get dressed and come along." He hopped off of his bed picking up the first pair of jeans and t-shirt that he found.

Toris rolled his eyes, sure it was just a school function but the least he could do was toss on a ironed dress shirt and a pair of slacks. Not a t-shirt and pair of jeans that had not been washed in who-knew-how-long. "Al, the show starts in like twenty minutes and I still need to pick up some flowers before I head over to the auditorium."

"Bro, look I'm dressed and shit. Let's do this thing, and you can pick up your flowers before we head over there. Is Feliks coming along too?"

"He isn't really into ballet. Plus, it's Friday night so he'll probably be at the club with Elizabeta."

Alfred snickered as the two of them headed down the hallway, "Dude, Feliks isn't into ballet but you are. That's so weird."

"What's the supposed to mean, you're tagging along with me for this month's performance."

"That's because my future girlfriend is going to be there. I have to show her that I'm into her interests and junk, even if I'm not really."

"How does that make sense? How can you have the same interests if you're not interested."

"Use your imagination. So… do you think I should get Natalie some flowers?" Alfred asked as the two of them entered the corner drug store headed right to the little section of premade bouquets, "What do you think I should go with, roses?"

Toris selected the usual bouquet of mixed flowers from its respective bucket, "If that's what you think she would want." he shrugged. If Alfred went ahead and bought flowers too that was another plus for the blonde Adonis he called a friend. Quickly, Toris went ahead and reminded himself he had inside trader tips that came with knowing Nataliya for nearly fourteen years (oh and that she hated being called 'Natalie' that was a good way to end up with a broken nose).

"Yeah, I think I'll go with roses; Papa would always buy them for Dad when he spent a full paycheck on clothes."

"Did he really buy clothes like that?"

"Yeah, and shoes… wine too sometimes… honestly he spent a whole lot of money on a bunch of stuff. He's a totally addicted to shopping, it drove Dad insane. Like the number one cause of their fighting under the subtle nationalistic comments."

Toris sighed paying the girl at the counter and checking his watch. There was only fifteen minutes to go, "Al, we need to get moving."

"Got it," he went right out the door as fast as he could go while still walking. Toris had to jog to keep up with the other's long stride, "So how does this whole thing work?"

"What do you mean? We buy tickets, sit in the seats, and watch the performance. When it's over we pass our flowers up."

"They how will Nat know I got her these roses?"

_Oh please call her that in front of her… and Natalie too while you're at it!_ Toris thought (though immediately after that thought he mentally scolded himself). "She doesn't really have to know." He said as the two of them walked up to ticket sales. _Though, I'm normally the only one that does that._ he felt no guilt at all for that last thought.

"I think I'll just go to her dressing room—"

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Toris shouted in the middle of the sparsely populated auditorium. School functions were never really popular, especially when they were not mandatory and cost additional money (and everyone knows how precious every little bit of money is to college kids—especially those that were into the arts). Alfred stared at him for a moment blinking. "You can't do that. What would you do if you walked in on her changing?" he regretted the words of that last sentence before the first word was even out of his mouth. The blank stare his roommate now had on his face signaled that his thoughts were currently less than pure.

Luckily the lights in the auditorium dimmed and the music began pulling his attention to the stage.

Alfred sat there in the auditorium seat with the bouquet of flowers across his lap. The moment that the possible thought of seeing Nataliya partially clothed wore off and he was left wondering what exactly he was doing there. It was weird to think about; there he was sitting in the audience of a ballet performance. _I am in the audience of a ballerina thingy!_ Alfred thought suddenly struck with panic as he turned around in his seat to scan all possible suspects of people he knew that would recognize him. He may have been raised by two mean, but he still had a reputation to up hold.

After analyzing the audience to the best of his ability in the dark (and an elbow to the ribs delivered skillfully from Toris) he turned around in his seat. Alfred looked up at the stage and there lit up by the lights front and center was the women he knew he wanted to be with. He was far from being a poetic young man (probably another quality of his that would make his over dramatic Papa pretend to faint) but there was something about her that made him want to change that. And yet there was a quality about Nataliya's costume that disappointed him…

"Toris," Alfred whispered over the arm rest, "psst, hey." He didn't notice when his roommate rolled his eyes. He just figured the other didn't hear him, "Yo, bro—"

"Hush, I'm trying to listen."

"What it's not like there are lyrics are anything man." He did hear the sigh in the other's voice, "I thought ballerinas were supposed to wear those tutu things. I can't like see her legs at all in that thing." He motioned towards the stage with his neck.

"They don't always wear those." And with that Toris turned his head back towards the stage and settled into his seat again.

Alfred turned to look at the stage again watching as Nataliya gracefully move around the stage. She was a beautiful woman in person, even when she was right in front of you pretending to not notice your existence. Or when she was kind of being a cold hearted bitch—but that just motivated him. Too many girls were too easy for him to charm; just a grin and they were interested. But this woman, she was a challenge, and while Alfred enjoyed his easy life up until now there was something about being challenged that motivated him. He supposed the thrill of the chase was kind of like how for chicks they wanted a project.

Alfred covered his mouth yawning. There was only so much of this ballet stuff he could handle before losing interest. Watching the girls of the dance department moving around on stage could only hold his attention span for so long. His school councilors has always told him he had ADHD; it wasn't Al's fault though that school was way too easy and seriously boring making video games or watching Star Wars for the hundredth time. And right now continuing on with watching this ballet was about as interesting as sitting through history class as they discussed the reading assignment he didn't do.

When the stage emptied and the lights came back up Alfred shot right up and started to clap, ready to head out to the hall and try to find Nataliya, give her the roses, and cross his fingers that he's put enough effort it to warm up her heart just a little bit. He glanced over at Toris who was still sitting and staring at him, then swung his head round at the rest of the people in the theater all looking at him like he was insane. Some old lady in a scarf, that would make his Papa cringe with its lack of style, was whispering to her equally as elderly and fashionably challenged friend.

"It's just the intermission Al." Toris said with a slight grin on his lips, then covered his mouth as he stood up trying to hide the fact that he was no grinning like an idiot.

Alfred turned to look at him confused, "What do you mean, didn't she just kill herself? How can there be more if she's dead now?"

"That's because there is more to it than Giselle just killing herself though her heart was broken." Toris stood up making his way up the aisle into the lobby. Alfred followed after him.

"So if Nat's character's dead now I can just give her these flowers ask her to dinner and bounce right? This stuff is way too boring for me to sit through if she's not going to be in it anymore."

"Only her part's not done yet."

"What do you mean?"

"She'll be a ghost now until her body can lay at rest," The brunet nodded stretching his arms up as the came into the lobby, "If it's boring then why are you sitting through it."

"Nataliya's into this sort of thing right? Isn't it her major?" he asked with that typical grin of his across his face, "I can suffer for her. And if we get married then it's going to be so weird, you know if I don't care about it. She'll probably want our kids to be into this stuff."

Toris just blinked looking at him with a touch of confusion. "Really Alfred, you complain about how much of a sissy that Feliks is and here you are talking about what it would be like to be married to a woman who hates your guts."

"You've got to be confident when it comes to this sort of thing man… confident and charming… there is some other stuff too you should take notes man when was the last time you dated anyone?

"I have my own methods…"

"Really? Do they work? I mean I am pretty talented when it comes to the ladies," he wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner that made Toris suddenly feel rather uncomfortable, "but I can always switch up my style, you know?"

"Yeah I am pretty sure I don't want to have this conversation right now." Toris said with a bit of a sigh shifting the flowers from his right arm to the left.

"Why not man? You're a pretty nice guy, you know. And not only am I comfortable enough with my heterosexuality to go to a ballet, but also comfortable enough to tell you that you're not bad looking. That hair cut makes you look like a bit of a sissy, but my bro and Papa both have girl haircuts like that and they get chicks."

"I thought your father was gay." He raised an eye brow.

"Naw man he's bi. Dad's the gay one and the fact that Papa is into chicks too and it drives him insane. Just adds to the things that they fight about, which adds to the entertainment factor of heading back home on brakes. But whatever about that my main goal right now is to get the details on how you do things."

"I just act like myself…?"

"That sounds okay like a good start, what else?"

"That's just it?"

"What?" Alfred scratched his head, "how many girls has that gotten you."

"Uh, none yet," he then quickly added, "I'm sure it will though you know?"

"So wait… does that mean that you are a virg—"

"Oh look!" Toris quickly said marching his way back to the auditorium, "the show's about to start again."

"Bro, seriously you haven't been laid before have you!" the look on Alfred's face was a combination of shock, confusion, pity, and a touch of admiration. "Man, you've got to tell me is there anyone that you are into? I'll help you get her trust me—"

"Shut it. The lights are dimming."

"Man give me a name, I'll help you get this girl."

"Al, not now—"

"Come on."

"Nataliya Braginski." The moment the name left his mouth Alfred fell silent staring up at the stage just in time for the music to swell and the curtains to open.

Toris couldn't pay attention any longer. In less than ten minutes his roommate had not only learned that he not only maintained his virginity (which as a male over the age of sixteen was downright shocking) but also that he too was in love with Nataliya. The mental declaration of war that Toris had made earlier on in the week after learning that Alfred too had fallen for the fair haired, beauty was now elevated. There went any sort of chance he had in using the things he had learned about her over the course of his years of knowing her to sabotage the other (then again the fact that the other was like completely oblivious to like everything could still play in his favor).

He was having trouble sitting there next to the other happy that he could retreat to his bed with the blankets over his head and hope that the other would forget about it. Or he could send Feliks a text and hope his best friend was willing to cut his usual Friday night partying short, if he said it was a romantic crisis his best friend was sure to come to his aide. Feliks was a sucker for that sort of thing, even if he hated Nataliya's guts and had tried on a number of occasions to convince him she wasn't worth it. Plus the other was way sneakier and had a great fondness for plotting about those sorts of things.

As Giselle returned to her grave finally able to rest, Toris shot out of his seat and tossed his flowers on the stage before getting out of there as quickly as he could. Alfred called after him, but Toris ignored him plunging his hand into his pocket sending a text message to Feliks:

_It's an emergency._

A short one, even if the other's mind was clouded by a bit of alcohol (despite his appearance Feliks was excellent at holding his liquor). There was also the fact that 'emergency' was a good word to use to catch anyone's attention, and texting was always the best way to get ahold of the other.

His phone vibrated. That was a faster reply then he was expecting.

_omg r u lyke in da hospital?_

Toris typed in his reply:

_It's a girl thing?_

He was regretting his choice of words for a moment before he received the other's reply.

_come ovr. hvnt left yet_

Toris let out a sigh of relief changes his trajectory to his best friend's apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

Toris sighed, standing at the door to his best friend Feliks' apartment. He'd walked straight from the performance hall to the trendy little building a couple of blocks from campus, and now as he stood just outside the door, the regret began to flow over him. What was he going to say to his friend? iAlfred's after Nataliya now and I just know that there is no way I can compete with her?/i the brunet let the words play in his head for a moment. He knew his best friend hated the object of his desires; he'd hated her almost as long as Toris had loved her.

As Toris stood there in the well-lit, white washed, hallway surrounded by his own self-loathing the door to the apartment was pulled open. And there, propped up in the door frame with what could only be described as a smirk across his lips, stood Feliks. The blonde male had tied his bobbed hair up into a ponytail and was dressed in a pair of pajamas likely meant to be a St. Valentine's Day set for a preteen girl. "Are you just going to stand out in the hallway or are you going to come in?"

"Hi Feliks," Toris gave his best friend a weak smile as he drifted back into reality, "nice PJs." He added in the compliment as a small apology.

The blond stepped aside allowing his friend into the apartment. It was amazing how neat he and his roommates managed to keep it. Toris had attempted and failed to keep the dorm room that he and Alfred called home clean; but it was a futile effort and frankly he was tired of picking up his roomies boxers (so they remained on the floor—it wasn't like he ever had anyone over anyway). The two went over to the white leather couch in the living room and before Toris could even get comfortable, Feliks started to talk. "So what kind of love issues are you having today? Still can't deal with the fact that the wicked bitch of the Eastern Bloc doesn't want anything to do with you?" he said beginning to examine his manicured nails.

"Kind of, it's just that, well there's someone else—"

"Oh so wait you're trying to figure out if you should go after another person or stick with trying to woo the hussy?" he interjected. Feliks always interjected if he felt that Toris was speaking to slowly (so at least six times an average conversation).

"No, it's someone else that wants Nataliya as their girlfriend."

"Then you should just cut your losses and move on. Plenty of fish in the sea and all that other cliché junk"

"That's not the point." Toris said with a sigh, "It's who is also in love with her."

"Ooh gossip! You know how much I lo-ove" (he elongated the "o" for effect), "who is it I've got to know!"

"Alfred," the brunet said with a defeated sigh as he looked down at his hands.

There was a gasp from Feliks, "Oh shit! If there was no way on earth you were going to ever get with her before now there's no way in the universe that that's going to happen now."

"Aren't you supposed to support me; you know seeing how you're my best friend and everything?"

"Uh yeah, but only when it comes to stuff that's actually practical; you're talking about you're roommate Alfred right? That guy's athletic, classically good-looking, and comes from a loaded family. He may have a reputation for being an idiot but we're in the same theoretical physics class and he's almost as good as I am with equations."

"Gee thanks. By the sound of it I think you've got a thing for him too."

"Oh come on you know I'm not into men! Fine then let me see what you've got going for you…" Feliks paused for a moment, "… right… well, you're nice, sensitive, caring, you're so not an idiot (except for the fact that you're hung up on some chick that doesn't want you)."

"If I wanted to feel inadequate I would have just gone back to my dorm room and stared at the ceiling until I feel asleep."

"Oh so you want me to stroke your ego huh? I'll have you know I am like totally missing a night out with Elizabeta. Roderich's out of town this weekend and didn't drag her along for a change so we were like totally going to paint the town red and all that stuff; but no I sacrifice a killer night out to coddle you. Puh-leze!"

"You could have said no to me and just went out."

"But then I wouldn't be a very good friend."

Toris decided against pointing out the fact that Feliks had already compared him to Alfred (in a way that made Alfred seem like the epitome of everything a young man should be) and was currently in the process of an attempted (scratch that for successful) guilt trip. He instead opted to just sit on the couch and fiddle with a loose thread on one of the many throw pillows. The two sat in an awkward silence before Feliks let out a heavy sigh and stood up from his spot on the couch.

"I'm making myself a drink do you want one?" he placed a hand on his hip and fixed his friend with a look that was halfway between bored and sassy.

Toris nodded. Sure he was the sort of person who played by the rules most of the time, but as far as he was concerned underage drinking was a law he was willing to break. The people of his homeland had a long tradition of drinking before they were twenty one. He could reason that it was in his roots to do so as well. Plus it wasn't like he was the one who had bought the alcohol and provided it so, his law breaking wasn't as sever.

"Just one though." Toris had made the mistake of drinking with Feliks before. The other despite his small frame and girlish looks could hold liquor like a pro. It was almost as if instead of a stomach he had a keg or two inside of his body. While the Lithuanian's weak stomach gave him trouble when he tried to drink in excess. If there was no self-control what's so ever and Toris was completely tore-up-from-the-floor-up, and Feliks' keg-for-a-stomach reached capacity the night would end in a nail painting, chick flick watching, crying, cuddling mess that would only lead to excite his best friend's roommate Elizabeta (and irritate her fiancé) when she got home.

Toris accepted the drink and went straight to sipping the fruity cocktail while Feliks had decided to just bring the bottle of _wodka_ downing shots, straight no chaser. And Toris with all his feelings of being less then masculine, suddenly, felt way worse than he had before watching the other man, clad in a pre-teen girl's pink pajamas down drinks with the skill and confidence, typically only seen in middle aged alcoholics.

Meanwhile, in a hallway just off from the auditorium, near the dressing rooms of the theater Nataliya was making her way down the hall. She had changed back into her civilian clothes, a navy midi-dress, and a white bow on top of her perfectly straight platinum hair, large duffle bag over her shoulder, and the flowers that had been left by her usual admirer. Poor stupid Toris, when would he learn she had no interest in him at all? Though the flowers every other week from him meant she could have them as decoration in her dorm without having to pay for them herself. Sure it was pretty hard to keep flowers fresh for two weeks, but Nataliya's precious Vanya knew how to make them last a full week… and she had to admit that once they wilted and died they were still beautiful (in their own way).

The other performers were going out to their customary post show night out; it was basically drinking at some bar then dancing around like well drunken idiots. That sort of thing had no appeal to Nataliya; she'd gone out with them once at the urging of her dear brother (he had told her it was the best way to make friends with common interests). But once was all it took for her to never want to go through that again, and if that's what having friends with "common interests" would require then she was better off with no friends.

Nataliya had never been the sort of girl to have friends. Growing up other children were interested in playing and had no sorts of goals for their lives. Sure she was in the minority, having a dream she had been pursuing since kindergarten, but associating with people who would distract her from achieving that dream would only hold her back. At least that's what she was convinced of. If that meant people thought she was a stuck up bitch then let them. While they would be thirty, goals unmet and weighed down by families that made it impossible for what their hopes to iever/i be reached; she would be sitting pretty at the top of her game: a prima donna for sure, performing all over the world still. Though she supposed there may be a child (if an injury occurred and the down time would coincide) and a husband certainly (but she would already be on a throne of her achievements having the company practically begging her back).

She chuckled a little thinking about how great her life was going to be compared to everyone else. That was when a dozen red roses were thrust into her face causing her to suddenly stop in surprise. "Why don't you just fuck off Toris?" Nataliya screeched turning her head quickly to see the blonde from the café earlier standing there. The same stupid grin on his face from before, she adjusted her bag, "Oh it's you, you can just funk off too, whatever, your name is."

"Alfred F. Jones, Miss Nataliya." He said without missing a beat, the grin still in place and the flowers still in his hand.

"How the hell, do you know my name?" she practically hissed.

"You know that guy Toris you mentioned? Yeah well he told me your name—"

Nataliya eyed the roses in the overly confident blonde's hand and sighed. _Does that idiot really think getting his friend to try for him is going to help?_ she thought. Though the attempted change in tactics was something she appreciated. "Did he set you up to do this or something?"

"New. I did this on my own."

"Well it's not helping his case any so you might as well quit. And let him know his old tactic of being more direct isn't nearly as depressingly pathetic… but it's still pretty sad." With that she turned on her heel and marched off.

The overly eager blonde boy followed after her. "Actually," Alfred started, "These flowers are from me. You were gorgeous up there doing that thing that you do. And also I am still interested in you from earlier on."

Right. They had spoken earlier, though Nataliya was convinced that using Ivan had scared the guy off. Her brother was a more sturdily built man plus a good few inches taller than this boy now following her like a lost puppy. "I thought you noticed I had a boyfriend earlier."

"I know he's your brother now. Unless you're fucking him… which is gross 'cause he's your brother and all. Even if you guys are like not blood related it's still gross. I have a sister that's not mine in the genetic since but it would be so gross if I fucked around with her… and not only because she's eight, but also because she's like my sister."

"Do you ever shut the hell up?" She sped up her pace, he did the same. Suddenly she stopped at the corner of a not so busy street, "Are you really following me?"

"Well I have these flowers and junk that I was going to give you. I mean I could put them in my dorm but that would be kind of gay—not that there's anything wrong with being gay and shit… it's just you know gay for a guy to have flowers."

Nataliya rolled her eyes, deciding against informing him of her older brother's sexuality. Instead she wordlessly snatched the roses from his hand and tucked them into her arm with the flowers Toris had given her earlier. With her frown firmly in place she continued on with her marching, only to stop half way across the street, fix Alfred with the best glare she could muster, and in an even cold tone said, "Don't follow me." Then continued on her way.

To her surprise he did not follow and she continued on to her building. Once she got to her room she deposited her duffle bag at the foot of her bed and the flowers on her dresser. Snatching the vase with the dead and rotting remains of her last bouquet via Toris, and dumped them out the window. Slipping her shoes off of her feet as she made her way to the bathroom and filled up the crystal vase halfway with water; setting the vase down on the bedside table Nataliya settled on to the bed.

Reaching into the dresser drawer she retrieved a pair of scissors and went to clipping the ends of the flowers before carefully arranging them in the vase. She could hate Toris and his persistence with a passion, but she had to admit the attention was somewhat nice. Nataliya knew her reputation of being an antisocial Ice Queen. She knew people didn't like her, and hated her, but Toris for some reason adored her though she had shown him nothing but cruelty. It was almost as if he really understood her. With Alfred her feelings towards him, his adoration and recent infatuation with her was far more irritating. Sure it was refreshing to have someone else following her around like a lost puppy, but his reasons were beyond shallow. He had known her for a moment and like so many countless frat boys before him he'd attempted to get with her (though she rejected him, he came after her again). There could be hope for Alfred in the end.

The thing with boys and boyfriends were that dealing with them had the potential to put a damped in her plans. There was a reason why she dumped her ex Miguel before heading off to college, boyfriends meant sex, sex could lead to children, and that was something she had decided to not risk for the time being. Nataliya needed to reach her dreams and goals and there was nothing at all in the world she needed more then to be a star!

Choosing the life of a dancer was difficult. There were so many chances for her to have an injury that would destroy her career, there was the chance that she would never actually make it, but it was a rick she was willing to take. Even if her dearest brother Ivan and their older sister Katya had tried to convince her to change her mind, Nataliya couldn't help but dream her impractical dream.


End file.
